The Directors Company Heads To BAM Fisher For The NYC Premiere Of A New Opera By Elli Papakonstantinou

The Directors Company's Directors Studio, proudly joins forces with award-winning international theatre company ODC Ensemble (Athens, Greece) for the New York premiere of the immersive cinematic opera "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding."

Conceived, written and directed by 2018-19 Fulbright Artist's Award recipient Elli Papakonstantinou, "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" has original music composed by Tilemachos Moussas and Julia Kent performed live into an array of surreal cinematic environments created by Stephanie Sherriff. "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" will play a strictly limited engagement at BAM Fisher (Fishman Space), located at 321 Ashland Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217, beginning Wednesday, September 25th through Sunday, September 29th, 2019. The Opening is Wednesday, September 25th at 7:30 pm. Tickets to "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" are priced at $30 and are now available online at https://www.bam.org/oedipus.

An immersive opera which mixes traditional performance with cutting-edge technology and emerging neuroscience, the production draws narrative inspiration from Sophocles' classic tragedy Oedipus Rex. A 2018-19 Fulbright Artist's Award recipient and visiting scholar at Stanford University, and a 2018-19 "Music Theatre Now" international award recipient, Elli Papakonstantinou has created a visually striking, lyric adaptation which explores engaging audiences in a new radical way. By using new technologies which turn the audience into the actual chorus of the opera, the piece rediscovers the community at the heart of a political performance, as it was in the ancient times.

Mythology, pop cultural references, and gender reexaminations feed into this unique theatrical mashup, as an all-female acting ensemble of opera singers and jazz vocalists join forces with musical virtuosos (live augmented cello, piano & new instruments) on stage for a deep-dive into a haunting mind game.

Partly developed during the director's stay at the Center for Computer Research in Music & Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University, "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" also has artists and scientists joining forces on a new neuroscientific case study. The study explores the questions: "Are we free?," "Dο we experience free will?," Are there real alternatives, or is all that takes place the outcome of necessity?" An exploration into Determinism and Self, the answers describe either our majesty or captivity.

The advisor to the project is Professor Manos Tsakiris, Professor of Psychology, University of London (manostsakiris.com).

"OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" premiered at CCRMA, Stanford University on April 4, 2019, produced by ODC Ensemble. The limited engagement at BAM Fisher is the beginning of an international tour. The next staging will take place in Athens, Greece later this fall, with the participation of cognitive scientists from The Warburg Institute, University of London.

The all-female cast of "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" at BAM Fisher (Fishman Space) includes Nasia Gofa, Anastasia Katsinavaki, Theodora Loukas, Lito Messini and musicians Julia Kent (cello) and Misha Piatigorsky (piano). Additional casting TBA.

Electroacoustic environments are provided by Hassan Estakrian and Barbara Nerness.

"OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" will be performed at BAM Fisher (Fishman Space), located at 321 Ashland Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217. The performance schedule is Wednesday, September 25th through Saturday, September 28th at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, September 29th at 3:00 pm. The Opening is Wednesday, September 25th at 7:30 pm.

Tickets to "OEDIPUS: Sex with Mum Was Blinding" are priced at $30 and are available now online at https://www.bam.org/oedipus.

This event is presented by The Directors Company and ODC Ensemble. BAM house and ticketing policies may not apply. BAM Membership benefits do not apply.